A New Life For Us Both
by KyraLynnManroe
Summary: Cullen's first capture of a very young apostate mage, and thus begins their Brother/Sister relationship. But will it stay that way? Suggestions would be appreciated! :
1. Caught

**Alright , So this is my first Fan-Fic ever , please be gentle . It's an idea I had for quite a while and decided to go ahead and start writing it , I don't know if anyone will read this but I would really love to hear so feed back if you like it so far or not . Thanks (:**

"Go wash your filthy shirt Kyra , no more rough-housing with the dog!" Kyras mother barked at her. "Alright I'm going!" she rolled her eyes. Kyra grabbed another shirt and replaced it with the one she had on as she wound around the trees to the river-side.

"And don't forget your cloak Kyra! Safety first!" she called after her .

_Whatever, no one is out this deep in the forest, I don't think they'll recognize a mage at first glimpse anyway. _

The bratty 13 year old trudged off, when she finally got to the river-side she began to scrub the grime off the shirt. She loved this shirt, bright red material with green thread-work at the top, the shade of red matched her hair perfectly.

She scrubbed for about 30 min, it was caked with mud and grime.

_Wait, what was that?_ She heard clinking behind her, _It's probably just manic wanting to play some more. _She made a collar for him when she was 8 out of string she salvaged from various shirts of hers and a bell her mother brought her from Redcliff.

"Stupid dog, if I get caught playing again I'll get in trouble." She grinned as she turned.

Not Manic, not even close.

Templar's_ . _At least 5 of them , she recognized them from there Armor.

She stood there stunned, _Oh maker, Oh maker, What do I do? _They loomed over her, Intimidatingly. One Templar pushed another in front of the bunch , "Go on Cullen , just do it , it really isn't hard , just ask first ."

She began to sweat , her pulse rised , she felt like if she breathed, she'd be struck down.

The one addressed as Cullen finally talked, "Uh , H-hi, y-you need to come with me. And p-please don't make this hard." He let out a breath she didn't realize he was holding.

_Why in Thedas was he nervous? She was the one going to die here. Alright Kyra just calm down, what was the first thing Mother said to do if I got caught, oh yeah, RUN. _

She booked it as possibly fast as she could down the bank, _Don't look back, just don't look back._

She could here they clinking of metal behind her,

"OI ! GRAB HER!"

She kept running and running , panting now she called for her trusty canine , "MANIC HELP!"She waited for the trump of paws on the soild dirt , but it didn't come ."MANIC!"

After running for what seemed forever , she came to a halt exhausted out of her mind, she was panting , holding onto her knees , if felt as though her lungs would explode. She could here them clinking behind her, Obviously catching up to her.

She hadn't realized she had caught them that off-guard. Reluctantly, she stood up and kept running, as much to her dismay they had indeed cornered her, there was a bit of a drop in the bank and a water fall that lead to part of the Amaranthine ocean, it did look hopeless from here.

She abruptly turned around and saw the Templar's closing in on her position.

They looked as if they didn't even break a sweat, but that was perhaps due to there Armor.

_Bleeding Templar's, where in the void is my dog? _

The one with the same shaky voice approached her again, but this time he sounded… we'll scared, no stuttering whatsoever.

"Please don't do anything.. uh stupid. We won't hurt you, I swear , we just need you to follow us." Kyra felt the very edge of the drop on her heels, She started to tear up, she'd never encountered a Templar before , but her mother continuously told her of there atrocities .

"N-no! You'll wrangle me up and drag me away so you can kill me! I don't want to die!", she choked on her words she was trying not to cry and heave."I swear we won't, we won't hurt you. Just take my hand."

He took off his helmet and placed it beside him, and ever so slowly let his hand out. Maker was he handsome, gorgeous golden curls and a nicely formed face. _WOW, don't fall for this Kyra, he's going to kill you and hang you from a stake._"Don't lie to me!" She shouted and turned around to face the sea, she was a rather good swimmer and so she closed her eyes and prepared herself to jump, and then THUD.


	2. Unexpected Kindness

One of the other Templar's had snuck beside her and lunged for her, they hit the ground, hard.

And as if it was nothing, he immediately got to his knees and grabbed her hands together behind her back and pulled her to her feet.

"Good distraction Cullen, lets get this one to the clearing." Cullen looked as if he'd been slapped in the face. She wouldn't give up yet though, the fear made her adrenaline burst out of her ears, she struggled . Kicking and wiggling , she would not give up without a fight. "Oi ! Stop that you brat !" The one holding her arms together shouted at her.

"Don't call her that Caroll, shes scared out her mind ..and for good reason." Cullen said calmly. "Well here then!" He violently shoved Kyra into Cullen's breastplate, not once letting go of her arms. "You take the little witch!" Cullen showed his inexperience. "Dear Maker, I-uh , well fine I guess.", he gently but firmly placed his hands where Caroll's were.

They began to come up behind her house, her little cottage.

She immediately began to struggle again, hoping she could at least find her mother.

Cullen looked like he didn't know what to do, confused .

"Please don't.. squirm. We're not going to do anything to you."

_Not buying it,_ she though.

"Don't spit your lies at me pig!" She countered and began to boost her effort.

"Aha, she's a feisty one for such a young thing." One of the others said behind them.

Once they got around her home, she saw her mother, shouting at another Templar, and two more holding down Manic , but once he saw her no amount of people could hold the Mabari, he bolted away from the Templar's leaving them stunned in the grass. He growled at the one named Cullen, and licked his masters hands, Cullen came to an immediate halt. Then her mother had seen them. "OH MAKER , KYRA DID THEY HURT YOU?" . She began to walk towards her but the Templar talking to her grabbed her arm once again, "Mam , we won't hurt her , we already told you that the Circle Of Magi is compl-"

"OH MAKER NO DON'T TAKE MY BABY!"

"MAKE THEM LET ME GO MOM!" . Caroll sighed , obviously annoyed,

"Take her to the horses Cullen , we need to calm down her Mother." She felt Cullen nod and they began to turn from the house. Her mother began screaming again.

_No no no! _She thought to herself. She started struggling again and yelling to her hound.

"MANIC , MANIC HELP ME ." But no hound came , were they holding him again? She was so exhausted, she only had a little fight left in her. Cullen didn't say anything, but she could feel his extremely controlled breaths behind her.

They were at the horses for about 5 min, she couldn't struggle anymore, and Cullen could tell.

She was propped up against the tree that the horses were tied to.

He knelt in front of her, just making sure she wouldn't flee again. She was so tired, yet all she could do was think of terrible things, her mother had told her of the things Templar's did to Mages.

They were lies of course, but she was to sheltered and young to know that.

_I'll never see my Mother again, or Manic. I can't... I can't do this on my own. _She tried to hold it in but it was no use, one rouge tear after another rolled down her cheeks until she was balling.

She couldn't help it. Cullen looked at her with concern, she didn't really care at this point if he saw her cry .

"I-I … oh dear, Please d-don't cry, nothing bad whatsoever is going to happen t-to you." His words meant nothing to her. _Liar, _she thought, _Don't try to calm me down. _

Ever so slowly and quite cautiously (VERY nervously), he placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed his thumb back and forth.

"W-w-w-why are y-you being s-s-so nice? Aren't you g-gonna hurt me?" she said over the tears with great effort."Of course not." is all he said with a sigh.

It had been about half an hour, she had stopped crying and just sat there deep in thought, mostly about what her Mother was doing at this point. Cullen never once took his hand off her shoulder.

She had to admit, it was comforting, but she was still confused by this,

_Why in Thedas would he care about my feelings ? Obviously not a good Templar… _

Finally the other Templar's joined them and Cullen removed his hand and stood. The one called Caroll spoke first,

"She's calmed down though it took long enough. We can get the hell out of this dammed forest now."Kyra sprung from where she was sitting, "She's giving up? She's gonna let you TAKE ME AWAY? NO, I want to see her!" .

Cullen gently grabbed her arm to restrain her from fleeing, she tore it away. She started running to her home, but she had not got more then two steps away before Caroll roughly grabbed her arm and thrust her to the ground."Listen witch, your coming with us and there nothing you can do about it."

She spat in his face without hesitation, and with utter disgust he looked at her with such hatred and raised his hand, per-pairing to slap her. She closed her eyes wrapped her arms around her head, she new this was coming, but it felt worth it. Cullen grabbed his arm in mid slap,

"Don't." He warned , they stared at each other intently for a minute, and finally Caroll backed down. Definitely worth it. Cullen held out his hand for Kyra , yet again.

_What is the void is this "Cullen" up to?_

She stared at him , and finally made the decision to smack his hand away and help herself up . _I don;t need you're help Templar. _She new he didn't deserve her hatred, but she was still trembling slightly from the exhaustion, and fear.

She brushed herself off and stood there awkwardly , expecting to be hit down again. Her palms were still sweating."Enough with the sympathy Cullen, and get in the sodding cart brat." Caroll spat.

Sure enough she looked behind Cullen and a cart stood behind the bay horse.

She looked over in the direction of her house, and down at her feet.

_If she's given up on me, I guess I have too. _

One single tear fell down her cheek, frustrated she violently wiped in away.

"Fine, I don't care what happens from here on."


	3. The Journey

There journey took them from the end of the Brecilian passage all the way back on the road near a place called Lothering, only in dreams she had seen so many people in one place together.

People did gasp and stare at her and all the Templar's. She new that her entourage just screamed apostate, feeling oddly ashamed she hid her head in the cart and hummed to herself. Cullen looked behind every once in a while and gave her a sympathetic look. She knew very well what people generally thought of Mages, but she wasn't a bad person...

Lothering wasn't very big so the humiliation didn't last long. The trip was not particularly long either, there were going at a rather quick pace and never once stopped.

A Templar named Bran rode in the back of the wagon with her, they didn't talk directly, but she listened intently on the Templar's converse with each other.

But the most interesting part for her was seeing Ferelden. She'd never left too far away from her home, and it was breath taking. Everything seemed a bit clearer, she'd never imagined that leaving her shelter would expose such beauty.

Even so she couldn't help but still be frightened, so many horrible stories had been told to her about the Templar's, thought she seemed to doubt them more every minute of the journey. That and she missed her home, her Mother, Manic, everything. Being around something so familiar for so long, it hurts when your away from it.

It was very late and a crescent moon had peaked out its head, she was also really hungry but she hadn't breathed a word to any of the Templar's since they left, and she didn't intend to talk to them anyway.

Bran had fallen asleep. It would take a minute for the other Templar's to get off their horses to buy her time , she could make a break for it. _But , seriously, where would I go? I don't know where we are right now, and they'd catch me eventually, _She thought. _OH SOD IT, I'm going to sleep. _She kicked over Bran's foot and he grunted.

She made herself as comfortable as she could, the bumpy road wasn't helping but she didn't care. She closed her eyes and thought of home, imagined she was in her bed. It took her quite a while, but eventually she fell into slumber.

Horrid nightmares poisoned her mind, that this "Tower" was a torture facility for mages. Left and right were screams and corpses. Thankfully she was woken abruptly by someone tugging on her shoulder. "What now?" she said sleepily, not even opening her eyes.

"Sorry , we're at the Tower and we need to Ferry Across the Lake." She could tell by the voice that it was Cullen. "Ugh, fine I'm going." she opened her eyes, it was still dark, probably very early in the morning.

Once she started moving she realized how stiff her muscles were, but she managed to get out of the cart and stretch. She had to admit, the lake was breath-taking. But the incredibly large tower loomed over it, giving her an unwelcome feeling.

The sweaty palms and increased heart-rate washed back over her , she'd gulped in her dry throat, but did her best not to show her fear to her captors.

"So, there's my cage." she stated to the oblivious looking Cullen. "I-sorry what ?" "Heh , never mind." She always deflected fear with humor, she coped better that way.

She walked to the ever so small dock where Caroll, Bran and the other Templar's were waiting. "So, finally decided to grace us with your presence Sleeping Beauty?" Caroll said to her as she walked over, Cullen close behind.

"Shut you mouth, I didn't take that long." she snapped at the snickering Templar. "Actually ..." Cullen began "It took me a while to get you up, you kept moaning in your sleep."

"Oh, I was having a uh .. bad dream." Cullen nodded and Caroll continued. "Oh dear, bad dreams about the Circle?" he mocked in a poor attempt of a toddlers voice.

She grinned, "Hey Caroll, there's a spider on you leg." "WHAT? WHERE!" he jumped with one foot in the air and tripped over his own foot and off the side of the dock. The water wasn't very deep, but nevertheless the Templar didn't look impressed, his boots filling up with water.

Bran and the others laughed and pointed, and she turned slightly to see Cullen snickering into his gauntlet. Bran took a step towards her, still laughing, "HAHA, I like this one!" and he held up his hand for a high-five, she grinned wickedly at Caroll and feeling slightly accomplished, she returned the favor to Bran.


	4. Arrival

She hadn't realized that she'd high-fived a Templar until they were halfway across the lake.

It started out as _What in the void did I just do? _She fought internally with herself on how wrong that was until they docked and faced the Gate of the Tower, Oh Maker it was huge, she gulped and Cullen put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

_Well, _she thought, _here it goes . _She braced herself and watched those huge, metal doors open all too slowly, took a deep breath and walked inside, at least she didn't do it alone.

She decided if ANY Templar were to be likeable, it was Cullen. Not only did he try his best to make her feel safe, he also wasn't rough with her like Caroll was. She could swear she had a bruise on her cheek from when he slammed her into a certain someone's cold, hard, metal Chest-piece.

_But still, _she scolded herself, _It could all be a lie this "Nice Guy" act. _As she walked into the tower, the first thing she noticed was how open it was, not cram-pt or anything like she dreamt it would be, very open and.. homely?

It smelt like incense, and it was comfortably warm in here. Cullen lead her right up to a very old, bearded man in a green dress, and a stern looking man in Templar armor. "Well well well, is this our new apprentice I see?" the old one croaked. Cullen let go of her shoulder and she turned slightly to see the huge doors being closed behind them by four Templar's.

_Trapped._

It was the other greeters turn, his voice was rather harsh, "So Cullen, how was it? Your first Apostate hunt?" "I-Oh , It turned out.. well Knight-Commander." he said.

"Good work, now what's your name mage?" it took her no time to figure out he was talking to her, she gave him a weird look.

"She hasn't really said anything, we know her names Kyra, but that's all we could get out of her and her mother." Caroll cut in. "Kyra , how old are you child?" the old one asked kindly.

"... 13." she said nervously. "Very nice, come with me child, we will get you settled, to my office." He beckoned her to follow, she looked up at Cullen and he gave a small smile. She turned and followed the old man cautiously up the spiraling starway.

Cullen watched her follow Irving slowly out of the hall. He hoped she'd be alright, maybe he'd check on her progress later today.

The sun barely showed outside, Dear Andraste it was early, no wonder none of the mages are up yet. "Alright boys good work, now go get cleaned up and get as much sleep as you can before shifts." Knight-Commander stated. "Yes sir.." he sighed and walked with his comrades out of the hall and up to the Templar Quarters.

He was absolutely EXUASTED, he only had enough energy to wash his face and remove his armor when he got to his quarters. He hit the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

RAP RAP RAP. "CULLEN, the Knight-Commander needs you in the Harrowing Chamber, Immediately." _I really wish Bran would yell through the door... I bet I barely got 2 hours of sleep. _Nevertheless he got up and stretched, remembering the girl they brought to the tower earlier, he pondered her progress as he put his Armor back on and grabbed his Sword.

As he trudged up the stairs he thought, _My first Apostate mission and 2 hours of sleep and Greagoir's already got me doing my first Harrowing, oh sod it all._

Resentful, he eventually got up to the Harrowing Chamber doors and walked in, across the room was Greagoir and Irving standing a few feet from the pedestal of Lyrium, he walked up to them a little nervously, finally feeling the full impact.

"AH, Cullen, your here, good. Well I've been thinking and you've really been pulling your weight around here. I thought you deserved an advancement in ra-" he was cut short by the Harrowing Chambers doors opening again , low and behold.

SHE walked in with two Templar escorts. SHE walked over to the group and gave him a smile, he returned it shyly/awkwardly. And it hit him head on, _Oh maker, I can't.. no I can't .. DAMMIT GREGOIR . _He began,_"_Magic exists to serve man…"

Many hours later Cullen stood at his post outside the Mages Quarters. Solona Amell had passed her Harrowing breathtakingly well, the whole time he was convinced he was going to have a panic attack, slaying her? Impossible in his mind, _Could I really have done it? _he thought.

_The most beautiful girl in Ferelden and me of all the Templar's in the tower was assigned to slay her at her Harrowing, on the irony._

Solona had been his dirty little secret ever since he met her, he was 11 and she was 10. They hadn't been exact-ally _friends, _but they had been something. They grew up quick and strong, her with education, him with his training.

He grinned in his state of day-dreaming as he thought of all the times she had caught him blushing when she commented on his stubborn hair, or when she laughed at him when he counted the stairs up to his Quarters, _maker I hate those stairs, _he thought.

He heard giggling and snapped out of his trance, some female mages we're walking past, and he realized he'd been smiling like and idiot. _Dammit all, I am a fool._


	5. Friends In Stange Places

Kyra woke about mid-day, sunlight streaming in through one of the barred windows in the Apprentice Quarters. She was the only person left in there, Irving thought she needed extra rest and some alone time from the stressful journey to the Tower.

He had also discovered that she was A LOT more educated in magic than she looked, he introduced the basic Manual of Spell-craft, just to find out she already knew it inside and out.

Well when you live in the middle of nowhere with your Mother and Dog, you gotta lot of time on your hands.

She sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her palms to her eyes. _That was SO much better than that sodding cart. _She stood up, stretched, and walked towards the vanity's.

There was a hot bucket of water and folded clothing next to a basin, including a note from Irving:

_Sleep as long as you need child, I understand that you've had a lot to take in these past few days. Clean up and meet me in my office, we will discuss your training schedule and a tour of the circle. -Irving_

_Sweet old man,_ She thought.

She removed her filthy pants and tunic and folded them. She found a wash cloth in a drawer of the vanity and she began to wipe the dirt and mud from her body, as she looked in the mirror, she conformed her suspicion that there was indeed a bruise near her chin.

_Why that flamin' blighter, I'll singe off Caroll's eyebrows._

Once she was done grooming, she slipped on what she thought was a shirt, but was actually a robe left for her, _Dear Maker! _She thought, _now they got me in a dress! I'm definitely taking with Irving about this._

Begrudgingly, she turned back to the mirror and brushed her hair with a comb from atop the cabinet, she decided to leave it down, it was just past her shoulder, with bangs just above her eyebrows, it clashed great with the colors of the robe.

Once she finished, she slipped on her leather shoes left near her bed, and walked out into the hall. She didn't really know where to go, but she blindly decided to turn left and just begin to wonder, she past a few miscellaneous Mages but they they didn't say anything, just smiled at her.

She'd never met new people before, let alone other Mages, her palms sweated she was nervous. But she kept her posture and kept walking, the company was easier to get used to than you'd think, a nice change infact. Her mind wondered, _This isn't AT ALL how mother described the Circle to me, people are treating me like I've been here forever, and they seem content as well. Why would she lie about it to me? Is she afraid that I'd like it here?There's people like me here! Did she really think she could just shelter me away forever like that? Poisoning the mind of a child with lies so she would never have to be alone? _

Her blood was boiling at the moment, but she did come to see a familiar face that calmed her quite a bit, Cullen was near posted near a door about 10 feet away from her. He was conversing with another girl, and two other people stood behind her, A male Mage and.. a priest?

There's_ a chantry here? _She thought.

That's when she noticed how pink his cheeks were, and he was stuttering again. Then she heard something about her being distracting. _Ohohohoho, he's sweet on this girl isn't he? _She smirked.

The Mage turned around and her companions followed, _No wonder he likes her, shes beautiful! _She had a beautifully rounded face, the same flaming red hair, short with multiple dreads hanging around her face, and the brightest blue eyes.

She smiled very sweetly as she walked past, "Hey there." she said kindly. "H-hi." is all Kyra could manage. Once out of sight she mentally slapped herself.

_Quit gawking at the pretty girls and let get on with our day! _She walked over to Cullen, slightly turned the other way, "Idiot!" she heard him scold himself in a whisper.

She smugly turned her back to him leaning on his, he probably didn't feel it through the Armor. She grinned, "Dose she know?"

"Huh?" He turned around and she turned again to face him. "OH, its you. And.. dose who know what?" he asked a bit confused.

"That pretty Mage girl, she know you're head over heels for her?" he blushed, "Oh... its that noticeable?" Her smile increased.

"Well dose she?". He hesitated., "I... I'm not sure, well if you can tell already I'm sure she can. But oh well, how was your rest? I see that bruise has gotten a bit more noticeable." Her smile disappeared. "Is it that bad?" she asked, feeling around for it on her face.

"Hmm.. follow me a moment." he turned and walked into the door behind him, hesitantly she followed. He was rummaging through a cabinet. "Just take a seat over there.", she scanned the room and the was a big plush chair beside a wooden table covered in books.

She sat there patently for a few moments, although a little confused. He walked over holding a small tin, he placed it on the table and started to take off his gauntlets.

"Uhh, what are you doing Cullen...?" "Hold on, you'll see." she eyed him suspiciously. He took off the top of the tin reveling a cream colored salve. He got a bit on two of his fingers and knelt down beside her.

When he saw she didn't move away he slowly moved his hand behind her hair and rubbed the salve around the bruise. It smelt like mint, and his soft fingers felt nice on her skin. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply as he worked the salve around.

_Wow, _she thought, _first unexpected kindness, now he's taking care of me? I sure didn't think I'd be making friends at all, or this quick at least._

A few minutes had past and she opened her eyes, not feelings Cullen's fingers, and low and behold, he was fingering around a strand of her hair. "W-what are you doing?" she asked a little slowly.

"Oh sorry." he blushed, "I just love Red Hair." She gave a little smile, "I've noticed, I envy her dreads as well." His blush increased, knowing the intent of her joke.

"Look," she began. "I'm sorry that I was so... rude to you on the way here. I was just scared and I-." he held up his hand to stop her. "No need to apologize, I understand. You we're being torn away from your life, trust me I didn't want to do it. But I serve the Maker and will... do as I'm commanded."

"I understand. T-thankyou... Cullen." she hesitated from doing it, but couldn't help herself, she was young after all.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. _Oh sod, he's not going to return it you idiot! Let go. _She began to pull away, but before she could, Cullen returned the favor.


	6. An Old Soul

The salve had swallowed the bruise in minutes, it completely vanished. And eventually Cullen decided to escort Kyra up to Irving's office, as she had only stumbled into Cullen because she was heading in the wrong direction.

They we're halfway up the stairs to the second floor and she was bickering to Cullen about her height. "But I'm only 5"2! I should AT LEAST be 5"5." she complained. "Kyra, your only 13, your not done growing yet, don't be unreasonable." "Hey! I can be as unreasonable as I want!" she retorted.

Cullen chuckled.

"And why do you do that?" He looked at her with a confused face, "Do what, laugh?"

"Nono, count the stairs. You got a disorder or something?" she teased. He scoffed playfully, "Why you little punk, I just hate these damned stairs, there's so many of them and they swirl around and there so high and ugh, I just hate them."

"Oh my, so sorry for prying on your racism towards stairs." she held up both of her hands and grinned.

He grinned back, "Smart mouth." Her smile widened, "Heh, you know it."

Once they had reached Irving's office, Cullen opened to door for her, she gave him a quick smile and a nod as if to say thanks, he returned it and closed the door behind her.

Irving's office was huge, and full of all sorts of things. There were candles, multiple trunks, robes, stave's, trinkets, and books, dear Maker, so many books. But, no Irving? He wasn't any where in his office, so Kyra with nothing better to do thought it would be polite to just sit in the guest chair and wait patently.

It had only been about 2 minutes and she was bored. Stubborn kid. She grabbed one of Irving's books from atop his desk titled _Aveline: Knight of Orlais. _She smiled with delight, this was one of her favorite books, her mother had owned it before her, and gave it to Kyra when she turned 8. She opened it at the beginning her favorite chapter, #6, and began to read with content.

She was at the ending of chapter #9 when Irving burst though the door with Greagoir on his heels, Kyra was so startled at the noise stood up immediately, but neither of them noticed her.

"How dare you let Duncan take that girl! She assisted a blood mage AND GETS AWAY WITH IT?" the Knight-Commander shouted. She had no clue how Irving could be so in control of his emotions, "I am aware of what she did, and I am disappointed to. But he invoked the right of Conscription. That is beyond either of our power combined." he said with a sigh.

Greagoir opened his mouth to argue back, but Kyra cut him off. "I-I'm sorry, is this a bad time? I can come back later.." she said cautiously, not knowing what was going on or even if she should be there. Irving looked at her kindly, "No need child, my business is done, OUR business is done Greagoir, I have things to attend to with our new Apprentice."

Greagoir scowled at her, "She's an apprentice already? She got here yesterday, and shes only 13." Irving just looked at her more endearingly, "She's special, very talented young girl. So talented that I decided to... well to give her the Cardinal Test this week."

Greagoir looked at Irving as if he was sprouting tentacles or something. "WHAT?" he shouted. "She got here yesterday and shes taking the Cardinal Test ALREADY? Irving shes not ready!" Irving looked so calm it was surreal. "If she doesn't pass, I obviously wont put her through her real test. But she will, I have faith, I have seen something in her, she will succeed, she will be... Great"

Kyra hadn't a clue what was going on, but stood there quietly not wanting to interrupt, Greagoir did frighten her. Greagoir looked at Irving, then to the floor. When he looked back up, he appeared calm, serene. He sighed in defeat, "Well shes your apprentice Irving. Just be sure your making the right decision, she is very young after all." Irving looked at his colleague, straight in the eye, "But with an old soul."

After Greagoir left, Irving had given her a written test, mainly about what magic should be used for, what the fade is, defensive magic vs. healing magic and so on. When she asked what is was for. He said he needed reference for the Cardinal Test, not that she new what that was, she new better than to ask.

He had also given her two books, both on different kinds of spells, and told her to read them tonight. She obliged and took them, eager to read them she loved books. He wanted Kyra to get used to the circle, "Make it your Home" he said, so she was now on a tour of the circle with a Mage named Petra.

Petra was 19, much older, but she liked her. She was kind and answered all of Kyra's questions, which once she got comfortable around Petra, she had had tons of them. She showed her the Apprentice Quarters, Mage Quarters, The Harrowing Chamber (Not that she could go in there), The Stock rooms, and when she had gotten to the library, she never wanted to leave, personal heaven, she would defiantly be spending time here.

They we're passing the Mess Hall now, and Kyra's stomach grumbled. Realizing she hadn't eaten in almost 2 days, but she was used to forgetting to eat, her mother complained about it constantly. "Hey uh, Petra? Can we get something to eat? I've haven't eaten in a while."

"Oh sure! I think it's about Dinner time anyway. I'll grab you something and you can go sit at a bench." Petra walked straight off and left Kyra a little exposed. Petra was right, it was obviously time for a meal because when Kyra walked in people we're everywhere. Mage's sitting at long tables, talking and eating what looked like some type of soup.

Not knowing what to to, she nervously walked to a table where no one was sitting at one end, and took the last seat for her own. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and rested her head on it at an angle that no one could see her face and stared at the wall. _Get over yourself Kyra. _She scolded at herself, _You're going to have to shape up eventually and make more friends. _

Then Petra had found her and sat down across from her with two bowls of soup, "There you are! I didn't see your face anywhere." she said as she placed a bowl in front of Kyra. "Oh... sorry Petra, I'm still a little nervous." Petra smiled sweetly, "I understand sweet-heart, but you'll make more friends. I promise!"

Kyra smiled back and tunred to her soup, and breathed it in, it smelt wonderful, like homemade Turkey stew, it reminded her of her Mother, she would make Turkey Stew at least once a week for Kyra. Delighted, she set her books down and grabbed her spoon. Petra looked up from her soup and made a weird face at the,. "These are a little out of your rank, Irving gave these to you?" she said curiously.

Kyra swallowed her mouthful of soup, "Yeah, he gave me a written test to. Said he needed reference." Petra gave a weirder look. "Reference, for what?" "Something called the Cardinal Test."

Petra's jaw hit the floor, "Your getting your Cardinal test ALREADY? I didn't get mine until I was 17! And you got here yesterday!" Kyra looked at her, confused. "Why? What is it?" "It's the test you take before you go through your Harrowing..."


	7. Love and Support

Kyra looked puzzled, "That sounds familiar, whats The Harrowing?" she asked. "It's a... test of your abilities, they take you in the middle of the night from your bed to the Harrowing Chamber, If you pass the "Test" you become a true Mage. If not... well..." she trailed off and looked down at the table, her face gone dark.

"If not what? Petra?" Kyra didn't know why she suddenly looked so... worried? "Maybe Irving will rethink this, you couldn't be ready..." She said in a low voice.

Kyra put her hand atop of Petra's, and she looked up from the table. "Petra, what is it?" she looked back down. "Kyra, some people don't survive The Harrowing."

They ate in silence after that, completely dropping the subject for the rest of their meal. Kyra had seconds, as she usually did. Petra walked Kyra back to her the Apprentice Quarters, she was still getting used to where everything was, but she was a fast learner.

They were at the opposite end of the hall to the room when Kyra saw Cullen at the end of the hall near the door. At first she was happy, wanting to talk to him about her day, but then she noticed his facial expression. He was all to serious, and his eyes we're red and puffy, had he been crying?

"Petra? I can make it from here, I'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast?" "Huh? Oh, yeah sure no problem sweetie, goodnight!" Petra and her exchanged a quick hug and then she walked in the opposite direction.

Once out of sight, Kyra cautiously walked toward Cullen, she knew people could be snappy when they we're upset and didn't want to make him mad, even though she didn't see him as that kind of person.

She was about 5 steps away from him and he peered over at her, once he noticed she was walking towards him he turned. "Oh, Kyra... I uh.." He looked at a loss for words.

"Cullen? You don't look to hot, something wrong?" She hated when people cried, she was the kind of person that would start crying too, and she hated to appear weak. "Everything is uh... oh sod it." he slumped back against the wall and slid down. Once he was sitting put his head in his arms and didn't say anything else.

She looked at him, and then looked around, no one else was in the hall, everyone was still in the Mess Hall, and the only person in the Apprentice Quarters was sleeping. So she knelt down beside him and put her hand on his armored shoulder.

"Want to uh, talk about it? If not I understand, but I know it helps to talk about things that are bothering you..." she was trying to be comforting, but she didn't have a lot of experience in this profession. _Well its the thought that counts, _she told herself.

He slowly lifted his head to look at her, a few fresh tears had made their way down his cheeks, he sighed and rested his chin on his arm. "This is shameful, I should be stronger than this." he looked at the floor. She shook her head, "You'd be boring if you we're completely emotionless."

He looked up at her, "She's... she's gone Kyra, I'll never see her ever again. And it's all the sodding Blood Mages fault..."

"Who's gone Cullen? What Blood Mage?" "Solona, she's gone..." a tear ran down his cheek and dropped onto his armored chest. "What do you mean gone?" she asked a bit fazed, _Can Mages leave the tower? _

"GreyWardens, they recruited her. She'll never come back ."

She had read many stories about the GreyWardens, fighting the Darkspawn, and the blight that was once again consuming Ferelden, she also read about the right of Annulment, people of all races having no choice but to take up their swords to the Darkspawn.

Then she found Cullens pain, the girl he loved was being sent off to fight a war. She looked at him, and placed her hand on his head rubbing her thumb thought his golden locks. "Cullen I'm, I'm so sorry..." He looked up and down the hall his chin back on his arm. "She's a strong girl, I should have faith she'll make it..." his lip started to tremble and a few more rouge tears fell to his chin. _Oh no, _she thought.

Her eyes started to water, "Cullen.. please don't cry."

"I'm s-sorry.." his head fell and he choked up. He lost it and now it was her turn. Tears fell down her face rapidly, _Sod it Kyra! Your so damn emotional! _

She stood up on her knees and lightly put her head on his and draped her arms over his shoulders, she was still a child in many ways, even if she couldn't admit it to herself, she craved the support and love of a family. And so they both cried, him over a lost love, she because (In her words) is a pussy.

This continued for a while they had calmed down but she could still hear him sniffling, she also didn't want the Apprentice's to walk into seeing this. She backed away a bit and looked at him, "Any better?" she asked bluntly. He sniffed waited a couple seconds then stood up, as followed his lead.

They both wiped the tears from there faces, "Why we're you crying? Did I upset you?" He put his hand on her shoulder. "No of course not, I'm just way to emotional." He gave a small smile, "You'd be boring if you we're completely emotionless."

She looked back up at him from her sleeve and smiled, then she laughed. "Whats so funny?" She looked back down smiling, "It's just that, I've known you for two days, and I've never had a friend before. Who ever knew that the first friend I would ever make would be a Templar of all things." He smiled wider, "The Maker must have."

"Well I should get into my Quarters before the other Apprentice's get out of the mess hall, but I did want to tell you something... Important..." she looked at her feet, _Maybe I shouldn't tell him about my test... _"Kyra? What is it?" His eyes we're filled to the brim with concern.

_Whatever, I can trust him, sod Irving and his secrecy. _"I'm taking my Cardinal Test this week." He didn't say a word, after a minute she got the feeling he left so she looked up, and he didn't move a bit.

"Cullen?" she asked, not at all confused by his silence. "You, no. Already? Nonono, your not ready Kyra..." He looked bewildered.

"That's what Greagoir said, I'm taking random practices for the next 2 days and then I have to..." "I should talk with Greagoir about this, It must be a mistake." he said as he shook his head. "Actually, he sort of gave up, he trusted Irving's judgment that I'll be ready."

"I... wow. You must have impressed him a great deal." she smiled at that, but she decided she'd had enough sappiness for one night. "Like I said, I'm sore from toady. I'm looking forward to greeting my bed." He chuckled, "Alright there kiddo, see you tomorrow."

"Nighty-night, and uh, take care. I hear anymore crying and I'll have to get out of bed and smack some sense into you." she grinned as she walked into the Apprentice Quarters. "Haha, alright there tough guy, get to bed you brat."


	8. Angels And Demons

**Sorry for the delay, but I really wanted this one to be a big turning point for Character Development. I got some suggestion of making the story have a dark turn, and I think this will be a really good turning point for this story, as you'll notice this chapter is quite a bit longer than the others soo yeah (:**

**Suggestions are appreciated!**

It was mid-day, Kyra had an early breakfast on Irving's request so they could start some "Hardcore" training, or at least that's how Kyra would put it. They we're in the library and she was sparing with Elven Mage, **Eadric**.

Eadric had been introduced to Kyra by Petra, hoping that Kyra and him would become friends. And they did, they went to the library together after Dinner a few times and compared their favorite books, they had quite a bit in common. Irving had paired them up for her training as well.

He shot a Bolt directly her way and she instinctively held up her hand and blocked it with an Arcane shield.

Irving clapped and walked towards her, "Never in my life have I seen such a young Mage be so... talented. You picked that up instantly, and just from reading! Did you practice when you lived with your Mother?" She smiled and wiped the sweat from her brow, "No, she had forbidden me from practicing magic at all, she wanted to be cautious of any chance of being discovered. So close to everyday I snuck away from the house with Manic and well... trained myself. I didn't really know how I did it or anything, it just seemed so... natural."

"Well you have a tremendous gift my child, I knew it the moment we met. Now I don't ever suggest this to new Apprentices but you're an exeption, can you demonstrate some Primal magic for me? I expect you've read about it as well."

She nodded and turned to Eadric, she wanted to impress him, make Irving feel proud. "Ready?" she shouted. "Let it at me!" He shouted back, smirking. She nodded and closed her eyes, she searched for it inside herself, raw energy, she cradled it in her mind, like a child, and let it grow, and every so naturally, she shot it out, giving birth.

A blazing fire ball roared it's way across the hall of books and hit Eadric's shield, making a sound like thunder. Eadric stumbled backwards into the bookshelf, and Irving's mouth was gaping.

"Kyra... that was amazing!" Eadric shouted from across the room. Everyone was just staring at her, even other trainees had stopped to look at her. "Wow, what a little tank..." she turned around and saw the supervising Templar, a little shocked to see she heard him, "Thanks", She grinned wider, she was loving the praise she was getting for her talents.

Another nice change, this place was everything she needed.

Hours later after training, Kyra sat at Irving's desk for the second time today. He walked around her chair, "You keep this up and sooner or later you'll be replacing me! You've done a tremendous job my child, it's about Dinner time and I hear the cook whipped up some Beef Stroganoff." he smiled and rubbed his stomach as he sat in his chair.

"Thank-you First Enchanter." she grabbed her fresh stack of books off his desk. "See me tomorrow in the Training room near the Templar Quarters, I have a special lesson for you." She smiled, "Okay, have a good evening First Enchanter." she gave a quick bow and turned to briskly walk out the door. "And you as well child."

She had gotten very used to the Circle, it had been 7 days and she was learning so much about Magic, she never had access to so much knowledge before. Her mother told Kyra that her Magic was a cruse from the Maker, but Kyra always knew it wasn't like that. She felt it was more of a gift, to have so much at your fingertips.

She flew down the flight of stairs all the way to the Mess Hall. She walked into the room and the scent of food enraptured her, and she took her usual seat at the last table.

There we're only a two other Apprentice's, a boy and a girl, about her age at the table opposite from her, _It's a little early, maybe Irving's timing was a bit off._ She decided to wait for Petra and Eadric before getting her food. She liked having friends slightly older than her, kids her age we're usually reckless and immature, at least in the Tower they we're.

She sat her books down on the table and opened one of them in front of her, it was titled _The Arcane Arts: Primal Senses. _She sat there, completely at ease... for the moment. The other two in the room we're eating and whispering to each other, _Wait, was that my name? _

"Yeah, behind us." The girl whispered to the other. "OH that girl! She some kind of freak, she doesn't take real classes with the rest of us." "I've noticed, AND I've heard that she almost killed Eadric during a training session!" "Seriously? I've also heard something about her and that Templar Cullen. Something about them getting together after hours." "Ew, shes our age and... already?" They continuted to whisper but Kyra tuned it out.

At first Kyra was a little disappointed, _Wow... I didn't think other Mages would be judgmental against... well other Mages. I thought they'd understand. _

Then it turned into resentment, like some one force-fed her a shot of homesickness, _Well what did you expect Kyra? This to be a sanctuary? No, Mother was probably right, no wonder she tried so hard to hide me. _

Then came the anger, uncontrollable anger, _How dare they! I'm am no different from them! What right do they have to judge me? Absolutely none! _

Her fists we're clenched and shaking, she felt a drop of sweat run down her cheek. _I'm not taking this abuse, I NEVER will. _She slammed her fist on the table got up and stomped quickly over to the two Mages, they looked at her wide eyed, not knowing what she was doing.

She stood in front of them, with hate in her eyes, "I'm a freak? Really? Let's see how normal you are after I rearrange your sodding face!" she said with disgust, and WHAM.

She uppercut the boy on the right, knocking him out as he slumped to the floor, the girl gasped and stood up. Before she could get away Kyra grabbed her by the shirt and threw her on the ground, she put a foot on either side of her and looked at her from a birds eye angle, the girl was covering her face with both hands and rocking a bit.

"Please! I'm sorry I didn't mean it!" she pleaded. "Well then you shouldn't have said it.", and she kicked the girl in the stomach, and again, and again, she kept going, no longer having control of her anger.

The girl choked and screamed, but Kyra was somewhere else, she couldn't stop. She kicked her again, and again, and again. Eventually something cold and hard roughly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the crying girl on the floor. She turned, a Templar doing rounds in the hall apparently heard the girls pleading, and had come to her rescue.

"What in the void do you think you're doing?" he asked, bluntly. "I-..." she faltered. She didn't know why she became so angry, It just kind of... took over? She could explain it, she just stood there mouth gaping. "Nothing to say huh? Good."

He tugged her arm towards the door. Hard. She winced a little but he didn't care, he dragged her out to the hall and up the stairs.

On the way way up they past the group of Mages she was waiting for in the first place, Eadric and Petra near the front conveniently. The Templar roughly pulled her to the side so the horde go the opposite way. Everyone looked at her, she hung her head. Then Petra and Eadric pushed their way over to her, all wide eyed.

"What's going on Kyra?" Eadric asked first seeming confused and worried.

"It is none of your bussiness Mage, now when you get to the Mess Hall take care of the Injured." the Templar blurted out when Kyra opened her mouth. Petra scoffed, "What Injured? Kyra wouldn't have anything to do with this." The rest of the group had past so her once again tugged her arm up the stairs and dragged her up. "I'll get you out of this Kyra! I'll see what I can do!" Petra called from behind.

Kyra was a bit septic of that, she was even disgusted at what she'd done. _You're stronger than that Kyra! You should have had more control... _she scolded herself all the way up to Irving's office. The Templar pulled her through the door way, and just for Kyra's personal gain, Irving was chatting with Greagoir, Bran, and Cullen near his desk. _Son of a bitch... _she thought, she hung head head again.

Irving turned when he saw them approaching, turning protective. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked with sternness. "Now now, Irving, what is it Recruit?" Greagoir stepped in, and over to them.

"I was doing rounds in the hall Knight-Commander, I heard screaming in the Mess Hall and saw this one..." he gestured to Kyra "Beating on two Mages.." At first everyone was silent, then Cullen stepped over.

"That's not true, what happened Kyra?" Irving defended her as well, "She wouldn't do something like th-" she cut him off, not wanting to wrongly deceive anyone. "No First Enchanter, Cullen, I did do it."

Irving looked confused, and Cullen's eyebrows furrowed, but no one said anything. She sighed, knowing that she should do the right thing, "I'm serious, they we're uh... it doesn't matter what they did. I hurt them." she confessed.

"What was their condition Recruit?" asked Greagoir. "The boy was knocked out, but the girl? Well... she was coughing up blood from being kicked, wouldn't be surprised if she had a broken rib either."

Again no one said anything, then Greagoir decided to once again, "Well if no one else is going to anything, Recruit you take her to the Private Quarters on the second floor, near the library and watch her for the night. Once we're finished here Cullen you will take post outside the room." "Yes Knight-Commander." the recruit said immediately.

Greagoir nodded and turned to Cullen. "Well..?" He asked. Cullen sighed and looked to his feet, then nodded. Kyra got this feeling in her gut. It was horrid, she knew Cullen was disappointed.

Irving had turned around to his desk and put his hands on them and had hung his head, but hadn't said anything the whole time. She wanted to say sorry, but before she could the Recruit had roughly tugged her around and out the door.

Her eyes watered, _Whats wrong with me? I let two degenerates get to me with their petty gossip and look where I am now..._ "OW!" she snapped. His gauntlets had cut into her arm, "Mind having some mercy on my sodding arm?" "Shut up bitch, you'll get yours." she scoffed at the statement, but kept her mouth shut.

She also noticed how close he was to her, practically rubbing up against her back. It was uncomfortable, but she gulped it down. She saw her quarters at the end of the hall, and the Recruit had quicken his pace, unsure what was going on in his head, she had to keep at his pace.

Once he reached over to open the door with one hand, she thought he would let her arm go once inside and just tell her to get to bed, though she was not eager to have a Templar watch her sleep. But instead, he flung it open and abruptly pushed her in, she fell on her hands and knees, her heart pace quickened and her eyes went wide, _What in the void was that about?_

She got up slowly and she heard the door click behind her. "Well, we got about 10 minutes before Cullen gets here," she turned around, her heart was going a million miles an hour, then he turned to face her, "So we're gonna be quick, you are gonna cooperate, don't fight. And if you tell anyone, I'll get you hurt, that I can promise."

She backed away from him shaking her head, she new exactly what he was taking about, but she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and tripped over the side of the bed and fell onto it.

"Eager to get started I see." he said coldly. He reached up and took off his helmet, and goddam he was handsome. Brown curly hair, emerald eyes, a nice stubble and a formed chin.

But she didn't pay attention it his face, terror was all she felt now. She felt like she should scream but she was frozen, fear does that to you. He slowly walked over with a devilish grin, and as if her eyes couldn't get any wider. _Idiot! You'll get raped if you don't do anything! Get up!_

She obeyed herself and shot up and off the bed, panicked, she looked around for something to throw at him. He wagged his finger at her, "Uh uh uhhh."

She reached for a particularly hard looking book beside the bed, but was interrupted by the Recruit abruptly pushing her back onto the bed, and climbing over and onto her, _Don't let this happen, Kyra you can get out of this. Fight Kyra Fight. _She gained control of her hand and attempted to punch him, but he caught her hand and pinned it above her head, she was laying on her other hand.

She wiggled and squirmed, tears falling from her eyes, he put his lips to behind her ears and ran them down her neck. "P-pleaase! Stop , I don't wanna! I don't wanna..." is all she could manage over her choking on her tears. "Shhhh...it's alright..." Is all he replied.

She just repeated it over and over, silently to herself. "I don't wanna, I don't wanna..." she tried as best she could and successfully removed her hand from underneath her, she balled it up and socked him right in the jaw, she heard it crack.

"AH! Why you little.." He grabbed her other hand forcefully and held it with her other hand in his same gauntlet. He sat up on her stomach looking down on her. It was hard for her to breathe, his weight combined with her incessant crying.

She choked, and he ran his gauntlet fingertips down her chest, he found a small hole near her breasts, probably snagged from his armor. Her eyes we're closed and she was desperately gasping for breath, she couldn't control her crying. Her eyes burst open when she heard a large RIP. She looked down and saw he had ripped her robe from the neckline down to her navel.

That triggered it.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream. She didn't even know she could scream like that. The recruit looked stunned and covered her mouth, letting go of her hands she started clawing at his face. "Stop it you insolent litt-" she turned her head as she heard the door hinges break as the door whammed open. Cullen ran over to the bed, eyes on fire. He grabbed the Recruit by his neck and pulled him up, motioning her to roll off the bed, she obeyed.

She laid there on her hands and knees, coughing and heaving, everything she should have heard was dulled out, she was so out of breath her scenes we're dulled out, she felt like her head was going to split open, that scream didn't help her head at all.

She finally looked up and over at the bed, Cullen was beating the shit out of him. Blood dripped off his gauntlet and that handsome face, well, didn't look like a face at all anymore, he was pummeling him, like when she was kicking that girl. All that was in his eyes was blind rage, just one punch after another, he wouldn't stop.

She didn't want to be there, _No, I don't wanna... _She put in all her strength and held onto a bookshelf she swayed on her feet, unstable, but was able to walk slowly.

Her legs were cut up by his Armour, and bruises lined around her wrists, but she felt no pain. Everything was still dull, she could barely hear, or even see. She just stumbled out of the room holding her robe together as best as she could, and down the hall she wen't, with no destination in mind.


End file.
